David Spanswick

another retro series, 20 May 2013

Customer review from the Amazon Vine™ Programme (What's this?)

How delightful to discover this fourth series of the winning "Cabin Pressure" already archived on CD.
The stellar cast ~ the deliciously fruity Stephanie Cole as a new kind of Mafia mama, the unbiquitous Roger Allam who has cornered the television market in political and detective strongmen depending on the angle of his hat, Benedict Cumberbatch who must fit the recordings in at weekends between being Star Trek villains and Sherlock Holmes and last but definitely no least, though possibly lesser known than his fellow performers, John Finnemore, creator of this delightful series.

I have to confess to never having listened to the series on the radio back at the beginning of… Read more

a perfect reading of a very thought-provoking novel, 11 May 2013

Customer review from the Amazon Vine™ Programme (What's this?)

Jacqueline Wilson's writing is just about the polar opposite of the propogandist fodder of Ms Enid Blyton a half century earlier and yet they, surprisingly, both appeal to the same young readership demographic. They both write for children rather than at them. Blyton may have written the same story 400 times but there is still an element in them that appeals to children who know they are written for them. Children know these things.

Jacqueline Wilson also knows what children want. They want honesty, they want engaging characters, they want humour and above all they want a good story that keeps them turning the pages (or in this case listening to the next chapter)… Read more

a super spiffing ripping yarn set by the seaside, 2 May 2013

Customer review from the Amazon Vine™ Programme (What's this?)

The second instalment of the ongoing mysteries featuring the intrepid Mirabelle Bevan, a name that instantly dates our heroine, but none the worse for that. She now joins the ranks of Phryne Fisher and Maisie Dobbs as fearless sleuths in an historic setting.

The time and place of this series could hardly be better; the post war decade, one of recovery and disorientation, loss of identity and the bold Big Lies farmed as propaganda by the politicians ( very very few actually had it so good!). This decade too was the source of the best of the Agatha Christie novels exploiting the loss of paperwork, the Cold War and the blurring of all kinds of boundaries. These, too, used to great… Read more